Note this
by Alvazu
Summary: Dear mom, dad, and brother. If you read this, it means you are looking around in my room to find a clue to my whereabouts. Unfortunately, since I'm far from sure myself I can't let you know, and even if I knew I wouldn't tell you. Don't look for me and don't try contacting me. I'll return one day when I've found out who I am. Love, your failure of a son and brother.
1. Chapter 1

**Got the idea by listening to "Silent Screams" covered by Damien Dawn and Anna Blue.**

 **Consider it 1 out of 2 of my 1. person stories, but since this was a pretty spontaneous idea, I have no idea how long I can keep it going.**

.

Imagine this: you are only months away from graduation from your last year of high school, and there is pressure on you from every angle. Pressure because of studies, finals, and by finding what university or college, or whatever you call it, you want to attend after you graduate or maybe you don't know what the hell you want to do with your life. Pressure by balancing school, work, and whatever you might have going on in your spare time. And last, but not least, pressure from all the expectations everyone had for you.

Do you understand where I'm going with this? Good. Well, this is how I felt it at the time: I had homework and studies up to my neck and about eight finals to look forward to while also trying to get my driver license and having my job in a grocery store. Trying to organize this without getting left behind in anything was almost impossible, but I managed, even though I had days where it felt like I didn't have any time to waste, which resulted in some very long nights with very little sleep.

These were my problem, yes, but, they weren't the worst. I had no fucking idea what to do when I graduated. My school-time from first grade and up to that point had been planned out for me. Attend this school, have this as an average grade, attend this high school, finish in the top of the class, and then… well, this was where the problem arose. I got accepted into a university, but it wasn't my decision, hell, I couldn't even get to choose my high school.

You see, it was because of my brother. He had always been better than me and when one brother was perfect in every way imaginable, people expect the other brother to be the same. When the first brother decided to attend these learning institutions, then the other must do the same. When the first brother got nothing besides A's in his classes, then the other must get the same, and when the first did this, the other must do the same. You could put anything in that sentence, and it would still be like that. Instead of letting me be me and let me do things my way, our family treated me exactly like my brother and expected me to be exactly like him.

That was why they made me attend the same schools and classes my brother had chosen and signed me up for the same university, without asking me. In fact, I tried to tell my parents I wanted have biology, but they signed me up for computer science instead, because _"That was what your brother chose."_ Later I said I wanted to use a year on working different jobs, so I could find out what I wanted to do, but all they said was, _"What are you talking about?"_ , followed up by _"You are going to work in a big firm like your brother."_ Give me a break.

They didn't want me, to become my own man, they wanted a copy of my brother. Why want something different when you already created something perfect, I suppose.

Unfortunately, I'm not my brother. I had to get an assisting teacher to help me with math, nearly flunked physics and chemistry, and don't even get me started on the language classes. The highest grade I ever got was B, otherwise, all I got C's with the occasional D, depending on how much I had studied or if I felt like giving the test or assignment my all. I didn't get my driver's license on the first try, but on the third which was why I had the job. It was expensive as hell. I wasn't interested in the economy of some boring company or the state like he was. I wanted to do something else… just not sure what, though.

Some of this may not sound like a big deal, but when you are told this every single day of your entire life, you'll snap at some point. Every day was like this. Our parents and family would say I lacked ambitions and should be more like my brother, but how can you have any "ambitions" or "dreams" when they are forced upon you and are not your own?

I want to be me. My dreams, my ambitions, my choices, was that too much to ask for? To be me and not an enforced copy? I didn't think so, and that was why I did what I did.

.

It was in the middle of the night when I woke up and decided to put my plan into action. I waited in my bed for everyone in the house had gone to sleep and listened for any indication the others were still awake.

"…"

Nothing. Perfect. But just to be sure I waited about 20 minutes more to let all of them fall into a deep sleep, making it easier for me to get my stuff together.

I stood up as quietly as possible after the 20 minutes and made my way through the darkness to the closet where I pulled out my bag to make sure everything was there.

It was a traveling backpack with all the most important items I had collected even before I got the idea for this trip. My wallet, a fake passport, a disposable phone, a solar recharger, my iPod, some packed clothes, a blanket, a jacket, a utility knife, and a map of every country on the continent. I had packed provision in the form of water bottles and energy bars, but besides that, the bag also contained notebooks, writing tools, and a flashlight that was also a stun gun as a weapon for self-defense. Plus, I made sure to withdraw some money for the first few days to make sure I wouldn't get traced right away, while also transporting the rest to another bank.

Checking it again just to be sure nothing was looked over, I nodded in acknowledgment and walked over to my desk and placed a blank piece of paper in front of me to write a goodbye letter. This letter was not any simple, I had rewritten it a hundred times before but always ended up burning it or throwing it out in secret.

My mind was made up, and there was no going back. If I, really wanted to find out who I was without people around me keep trying to decide it for me, I had to do something drastic. My future was planned out for me, but it wasn't me who decided it.

It took four attempts, but after what felt like an hour, the letter was done. I opened a drawer and picked up a wooden box that was under some books and loose papers and stuffed it down into my bag. The box was where I had hidden my money, so it would have been unbelievably stupid to leave it behind.

I walked over to the door, picking up the backpack as I went and glanced at my room for the last time before leaving it. The room with the bare walls with an unmade bed and a letter on the desktop for my family to find.

I left my room and closed the door on the way out and listened for any signs of movement. When there was nothing to hear I quietly sneaked through the black hall to the staircase, passing my brother's and parent's rooms in the process.

While going down the stairs, something hit me. The sound of my family's breathing while they slept, could be heard through the doors, but only three of them. I recognized the sounds of my parents and brother but couldn't detect my brother's boyfriend who was supposed to be sleeping here too, so why was there only three breathings?

 _"_ _Shit,"_ if that guy wasn't sleeping on the first floor then he would be either on the couch in the living room, or he would have driven home, although that was highly unlikely. That freeloader was slowly moving all his crap into my brother's room, so of course, he would still be here. _"Should I do this another night? No, I'll just have to be more careful."_

When reaching the end of the stairs, I made my way to the living room, no longer fumbling my way since my eyes had adjusted to the darkness. Next thing to do was to get the car key from the coffee table and do that without alerting anyone.

"A bit late for a walk, don't ya think?" a voice from behind me said as a lamp turned on and lit up the room.

I span around from my spot, taken aback. _"Shit! Why is he here... and awake? It's almost 02.30, shouldn't he at least be asleep?"_ I thought. There on the couch, my brother's boyfriend sat and stared at me as if I was a little kid taught with my hands in the cookie jar.

The guy stood up from his place and stretched. "That's a big bag you got there. Going to be a long trip?"

I began glaring at him. He might have caught me, but I wasn't going to tell him anything.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "You have been acting weird the whole day… the whole week actually, but even more today, and then there was the whole thing at dinner. What's going on?"

Still glaring I made up some dumb excuse, "I'm just feeling under the weather is all."

He looked at me skeptically, "Riiiiight, so, how long are you planning to be away?" he said almost nonchalantly.

Of all the times he could choose to be observant, he picked that moment. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"So that bag is just for show, and you were totally not looking for this?" he asked, presenting to me my key in his hand.

My eyes widened in shock, _"Fuck."_

He smirked at me and walked closer, "Now, before I give you this, could you at least tell me when you think you'll be back?"

"I'm not sure- wait, you won't stop me?"

He just shrugged, "As much as I find what you are about to do stupid, and that's coming from me, I know you are a clever boy with what I hope is a bulletproof plan. No matter what I say, I probably can't convince you to stay, so why even bother?"

I stared at him dumbfounded, "What? Where's the logic in that?" I could have called him out on what he meant with the "what-you-are-about-to-do" part, but there weren't that many ways to take it when you capture some teen with a big traveling bag and who's on their way out the door before the sun was even up.

He gave me a look that said the answer was obvious. "Buddy, how long have we known each other?"

Without having any idea where he was going with this, I answered, "Well, the two of you started dating when I was 13, so about five years. Why?"

"Because in those five years you have shown more maturity, determination, and resourcefulness than any kid your age would normally possess. I think you know what you're doing, just get back one day, and another thing," he took my hands in his and looked at me seriously, pressing the car key into my palm, "if you need anything, no matter what, just give us a call, okay?"

He believed me. His reasons were kind of dumb, but he still believed in me. "I'll remember... thank you," I said before exclaiming, "Wait a sec; my brother! If he finds out you let me go, he will kill you!"

The taller man smiled down at me and turned around towards the stairs and sing-song, "I haven't seen a thing. I was just on the toilet, and now I'm on my way back to sleep next to my boyfriend. Didn't see anything interesting down here."

I stood still, looking in his direction for a while before I started chuckling lowly, "What an idiot,"

I walked out the front door for the last time in a long time and unlocked my car. I threw my bag onto the passenger seat and made the car growl when it came to life.

This whole process was most likely easier than it should have been, but nothing about it felt wrong. In fact, it felt right, as if I was destined to go out and journey on my own.

As the car rolled out of the driveway and onto the road, my mind was drowning with worries about the letter I had left behind. Would they read it? Would they follow my wishes or at least respect them? Would they be sad or scared? Probably yes for the last one, but still. They were my family, hell, even THAT guy, was as good as my brother in law by that point.

When I passed the city sign, everything became clear again. I was on my way to a new life. It was going to lonely at first, but something told me that it would change, and it would be worth it.

.

 _Dear mom, dad, and brother._

 _If you read this, it means you are looking around in my room to find a clue to my whereabouts. Unfortunately, since I'm not even sure myself, I can't tell you and if I knew, I wouldn't. I have to discover this on my own. Without you breathing down my neck and trying to fit me into a special box that has always suffocated me._

 _You want a smart son, who knows, exactly, who he is and what he wants to do? Fine, you have him, now can I please decide who I am? What you expect me to be and what I want to be are completely different, so stop filling my head with all your plans for_ _ **MY**_ _future._

 _Don't look for me and don't even try contacting me. Left both phone, computer, and everything else here._

 _I'll return after I have figured a couple of things out and found out who I am when I'm not standing in someone else's shadow._

 _May we meet again, someday._

 _Love, your failure of a son and brother._

 _._

 **Sooo... that happened.**

 **Quick heads-ups:**

 **I'm probably going to change the title at some point. "Note this" was just the best name I could think of at the moment.**

 **No, the characters are not OC's or anything like that.**

 **Thank you for reading... whatever this story is, please let me know what you think and have nice day :)**

 **.**

 **Bulletproof.** **Buuuullet-proooof. Bullet... In Danish, we would say "rock/stone solid" or "rock/stone-proof" (although, we do use "bulletproof" as well), like the plan is secured against natural disasters or something, but leave it to the English language to shoot the plan instead XD**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**

 **Thoughts after reading the first review: I've ducked up again, haven't I? *Sigh* oh well, guess I have to change it to 'normal' instead.**

 **Thoughts after reading the two next reviews: YES! THEY UNDERSTOOD MY INTENTION BY NOT MENTIONING ANY NAMES.**

 **The thing is, I'm not gonna confirm nor deny the identities, that seems WAY to boring for my taste. Besides, I'm curious to see how many guesses it.**

 **Have ideas for two different 'name reveal' scenarios (even though I'm pretty sure you'll have figured it out before that), I just have to pick which one (1: focusing on the mc+ travel partners, 2: on his family).**

.

The day hadn't been all that unusual. Wake up late, go to my last day of work, drive around for a bit before going back home. Walking into the house, I found my parents working with something in the kitchen and my brother sitting in his boyfriend's lab in the living room, having a make-out session that unquestionably needed to be censored soon, if they continued like that.

This sucked. When my brother came out, our parents congratulated him and were ready to throw him a party, but when I came out, they hardly even noticed it. In fact, they were thoroughly surprised when they caught me kissing my boyfriend at the time. After that humiliating interruption, I had to remind them I was gay… or were they surprised I could be in a relationship at all? I don't know, and I honestly don't think I want to know. If they had forgotten, then it meant they hadn't been listening to me when I told them something very personal, all the while they praised my brother for the same thing. But if they were surprised that I could be in a relationship, it meant they hadn't expected me to be with anyone. Thanks a lot.

I said hello to all of them before running up to my room. My room was simple enough. I didn't have anything on the walls, so it was all in the same, boring purple-gray color. My bed was next to the back wall, the door and closet at the wall to its right and a couple of shelves filled with books and school stuff to its left. On the opposite side of the room, there was a desk covered in papers, notebooks, and pencils.

With nothing else to do, I decided to relax a little until it was time for dinner. And what a catastrophe that was.

All my mother did, was talk about how I was moving closer to the university. Maybe even make it so I could live with my brother at the campus. Yeah, no thanks.

Even if I wanted to attend that university, that freeloader lived with my brother too and if they could barely keep their activities to "11 years friendly" at home, there was no way I would want to risk walking in on them on their turfs with the possibility to see some "15 years friendly" shit. Once was more than I ever asked for, and I don't want a repeat.

"We have to plan out what you are taking with you when you move. But don't worry about your room here, you'll still have it here for when you visit or when it's vacation and all that," my mother chatted away excitedly. At least one of us was happy about this.

I just tried focusing on my food and avoid talking about **that** specific topic, but it didn't seem like luck was on my side this time.

My brother elbowed me in my right side, alerting me that someone had talked to me without I had noticed.

"What?" I asked, looking away from my plate in confusion.

My father, who was sitting across from me, grumbled in annoyance before mom repeated herself. "Sweetie, I said we have written you up for some Summer classes you have to attend before school starts," the way she said it, sounded way too happy; as if it was something to look forward to. "Your examination grades were okay, but you have some catching up to do if you don't want to be left behind from the start."

Wait, what?! Summer classes? Was she serious about that? Of course, she was serious, anything below B was unacceptable to her, so even when I got my act together for the finals and walked away with some A's and B's she couldn't accept I had gotten four C's.

This, wasn't that bad, especially when you look at the fact it was the classes I usually sucked at, but since it was below her expectations, she thought I had to get summer lessons until August... how about no?

"Mom, is that honestly necessary? I did great on my finals, and I'm taking this year away from school to test out jobs, remember?"

She shook her head, dismissively, "Nonsense. University first and then work after that. That's how it goes, Honey," she said in a happy tone of voice.

"But-"

"For Christ sake!" my father sighed loudly in irritation, "We are not talking about this again. You are going, and that's final."

"But, dad, I-"

"What if it's a year off to attend an internship?" my brother asked, "SAP does have an internship program if you indeed insist on working first."

I stared at him with wide, disbelieving eyes. _"Is he in on it too?!"_

I felt someone was looking at me, but at that point, I didn't care at all. Running a hand down my face, I could distinctly imagine the rest of my life be planned out right under my nose.

"But SAP isn't even in our country, isn't there anything closer to us?" mom asked.

"Probably, but if I had to pick any company, it would be SAP. So what if it's in another country? There are ways to get temporary work permits, and it would be easy enough to find a place to live."

"Yeah, but still, it's so far away. Is it even safe?"

"That's what you guys want, not me. I never agreed to any of this," I tried to interject. If my brother wanted to make computer stuff for a living, good for him, but leave me out of it.

"It's safe enough. I looked into it for where I want to go after this year, and it seems promising," my brother said, completely ignoring me.

"Looked into it already, eh? Good job m' boy. Next thing we know you could start up your own company," father didn't even try to hide how proud he was. "You see this? You have to strive for this," he said, looking at me while gesturing towards my brother.

 _"_ _"We are not talking about this again" my ass, they are doing it right now, AND they are taking it further than ever."_

I felt like burying my head in my arms and just listen to music at such a high level I should fear for my hearing but not giving a damn about it. Maybe run back to my room, and slam the door so hard the entire house would feel it, only so I didn't have to deal with this for who knows what time. You know, the stereotypical "teenage attitude" thing. Maybe if I slammed my head against the table hard enough I would pass out, it could free me as well. Could I pick both? And why the hell was someone looking at me?

At some point I just got fed up with it all and hammered a fist down on the table, yelling, "SHUT UP!" as I did so. The action made all the plates, glasses, and flatware jump and jingle slightly as it hit each other but at least it made my family quiet… what now?

"Please," I finally mustered enough courage to say. "Can't you guys just accept I want something different? I have a plan for this year, and that's to figure out what to do with my life. Can't you a least wait and hear what I find out by myself?"

People went silent. They were most likely shocked because of my outburst since I was normally always quiet, but at that point, it was the perfect time to speak up. It was time to fight back.

"Please, just wait until I come up with something on my own," at that point I was pleading them to understand, but the hope for that fell to the ground at what my father said.

He sighed loudly and gave me a disapproving look, "If you don't have any plans for your future career, you will end as a leech, on everyone around you. Now, stop complaining and do what you have been told to do. That way you won't be in doubt, and everything will become so much easier for you."

 _"…_ _did dad just compare me to a bloodsucking worm? That's a new."_

I felt my shoulders drop back in a defeated way as realization kicked in. It wasn't only that they wanted me to be like my brother, they wanted to control me, wasn't it? Fine. I pushed away from the table and left the others to head back to my room, slamming my door just for good measure.

While I leaned back against the wooden surface, I overheard something, the only person who had not participated in discussing my future, say to my parents, "Apologies for interfering with your family discussion, but you aren't treating him fairly. He has to decide these kinds of things on his own."

Of course, the freeloader decided to defend me after I left the room… but defended me nonetheless. Wow.

After letting that thought sink in, I went to bed early. That way I would be at least a little re-energized when I left during the night.

.

The next day

.

I was startled awake by the sound of someone knocking, and it kept getting louder and louder.

While attempting to ignore the noise, I buried my head down into my uncomfortably hard pillow and tightened my grip on the surprisingly thin duvet. Trying to turn around to find a more pleasant position, I realized something was off when my face hit a soft wall, and I kicked something hard and curvy. Plus, the scent. It smelled like sweat mixed with dirt, old McDonald's food, and energy drinks. Not exactly the best combination in the world.

The knocking came back, accompanied by a man saying something in too fast German for me to understand.

I attempted to sit up and rub the sleep out of my eyes while trying to understand why my bed had suddenly become so cramped. Looking around me, I was confused as to why I was in the backseat of my car with my backpack serving as a pillow and a blanket wrapped around me. Out of the windows, I could see I was in a pull-up area with a motorway beside it. _"Oh right. I drove off last night."_

Sorry for the time and country skipping, but I didn't think 15 hours of transporting, sleeping, transporting while sleeping, and somehow ending up somewhere in Germany sounded interesting. The most exciting thing that had occurred up to that point happened at the border crossing.

The guy who was checking my pass, luckily, didn't see it was a fake and the only thing he questioned was why an 18-year-old would be up and driving before sunrise. When I told him, I was on my way to Holland he gave me a look as if he understood everything.

"No need to say anything else," the guy had said. "You are young and want to live a little before settling down. Good luck on your travel. Oh, just remember some coffee shops require you are 21 or older, always have your ID at hand, and you are only allowed to come to the same shop twice a day, okay?"

Shocked by the fact I just got a 'where and how to get high' advice from an officer, I merely nodded in response while promising to keep that in mind and drove off... S-so that happened.

"Bursche, bist du okay?" a deep voice asked.

I looked in the direction of the voice and saw there was a police officer, standing by the door I had kicked. "Englisch, Englisch. Nicht so gut mit Deutsch," I said in clumsy, sleepy German, but the man understood me. I pushed the blanket away and stepped out of the car. If he wanted to talk to me about something, I might as well get some fresh air while doing it.

Getting out I was met with the constant sound of cars driving by, and the almost suffocating stench of exhaust gas. The sun had passed the highest point in the sky, so it had to have been late in the afternoon, which meant I must have slept for a couple of hours.

"Sorry to disturb you, Bursche, but we got some calls about a car parking at a closed off area," the officer explained with a heavy German accent. He looked down into a notepad as if he checked something. He wrote something down and put it away before leaning against my car, waiting for me to explain myself. "Something you want to clarify?"

"Closed off? Thought this was a public area," I said confused while stretching my back to the point where you could hear the joints pop. Come to think of it, there might have been some signs that COULD have signaled about a construction site up ahead, but by that point, I was in dire need of a power nap, and I couldn't read them anyway.

The officer shook his head and lifted his cap, making him see me better. It was obvious he was concerned about what he saw. A late-teen from another country, driving all alone around in Europe and was barely able to say anything in other languages than English. "Bursche, I need to see some identification, and while we are at it, what is your business here?"

Sighing, I reached into the car to get my bag and fished out my passport and driver's license. "Just driving through. I'm on my way to Amsterdam and just felt a bit drowsy. Didn't know this was a restricted area," I explained and with slightly shaking hands I gave the officer my identification and let him study it.

The man nodded a couple of times while he looked at my information before handing it back. "Vacation without your parents?"

"Something like that, yes. I want to find some work while there, and when I have saved up enough, I'm going to London," my eyes anxiously examined the officer's face, looking for any indication that he had figured out the pass was fabricated, just like with the border control. Seemed luck was on my side once again.

"Aha. Well, the thing is this area is going under some construction in a couple of days, and people aren't supposed to be here. We got some calls from concerned drivers, so was sent out to look at it," he said and chuckled, "Didn't expect to find a kid passed out in the car."

I felt my cheeks blush at that last comment. "I'm not a kid," I said in defense, but the officer just waved it off and gave back the pass.

"Yeah, yeah. Listen, you have to drive away from here as soon as possible, so we both avoid further problems. Then simply keep on the road and then you'll reach a couple of cities," the officer said and pointed in the direction of where the road was heading. "If you continue driving past Bremen and Münster then you'll hit Meppen. It should take you four, maybe five hours. When you hit Meppen, there's an about 20-25 minutes' drive away from the border to Holland, got it?"

"Got it. Thank you," I said, taking out my map and, with less shaking hands, outlined the directions the officer gave me. Seemed like an easy enough stretch of road to follow.

The German officer walked back to his car while waving to me over his shoulder, "You're welcome. Good luck on your work-vacation, Wendell."

I thanked him again as I sat behind the wheel of the car. After he drove off, I let out a shaking breath of relief. He believed it, he had looked at the forged passport, and thought it was real; that Wendell was my actual name. That was twice it passed control. Even if it was the second time it got checked, I was still afraid someone would notice there was something wrong with it.

When I got my nerves under control, I started the car and drove it back to the road and headed towards Meppen. Next stop, Holland.

.

 **A/N**

 **Sorry for this chapter being slow but the other is going to be different. Promise.**

 **The mention of 11/15 years friendly is a reference to the mc's home country movie rating system.**

 **Bursche, bist du okay= Lad/Kiddo, are you alright**

 **Englisch, Englisch. Nicht so gut mit Deutsch= English, English. Not so good with German**

 **.**

 **Please let me know what you think, and have a nice day :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**

 **My bad excuse for not updating at all, in December is that every student at my school had to write this BIG report that determines if we can graduate this Summer. This resulted in all of us being completely exhausted when we were done.**

 **This is partly why this chapter is so short. Another reason is that it was originally much longer, so I split it into 2 chapters instead (the other part is getting comma checked now). The last reason is something my family talked about Christmas Eve. I'll talk about that at the end.**

.

"What do you mean, you won't fix it?" I yelled, frustration evident showing in my voice.

The mechanic wiped some oil off on his uniform before he looked at me. "Kid, the motor got fried, and it needs new parts. Do you think you can pay for that?"

Yeah, about a day after my encounter with the German police officer, my car began smoking like crazy. It jittered before white smoke emerged from under the hood until all I could see in front of me was a blurry, steaming haze.

After parking at the side of the road, I stepped out to look at the problem and heard there was this weird almost sizzling sound coming from the motor. When opening the hood I was meet with white, hot steam which was bad enough all on its own, but when looking back at the car, I found the inside of the vehicle was beginning to overflow with white, blurry smoke as well.

I wasn't exactly an expert on cars, but I was pretty sure it wasn't supposed to do that.

Trying to keep calm and not let frustration get the better of me, I contacted the closest roadside service and got picked up about half an hour later by a guy who would drive me to a mechanic. 30 minutes after that, I was dropped off in Huis ter Heide, where my car should be repaired, but the mechanic refused to work on it.

The man had used some time to look at the vehicle before he declared it was too damaged from overheating, which meant the whole thing would be a lost cause for me.

I glanced over at my car that had multiple parts taken out to make it easier for the mechanics to look at it, and I still thought it probably wasn't that bad and that the man just overexaggerated the situation. "What parts are we talking about?"

The mechanic rubbed his chin and hummed thoughtfully. "The water pump is no good-"

I looked back at the man who listed what was wrong with the machine " _One thing? I should be able to pay for that."_

"-thermostat, radiator-"

" _... okay."_

"-the coolant flush and hose are busted-"

" _Eh, please stop now."_

"-and the engine oil needs to be changed as well."

I gave him an are-you-kidding-me look, "Is there anything that works?"

He began chuckling a bit, "The airbags, but I guess it's not what you meant."

Resisting the urge to send him an angry glare, I tried to come up with a resolution to the problem since there was no way I would be able to pay for all that and make it at least a week without a job or a place to stay. Getting rid of it was the only logical option I could come up with even if walking would slow me down A LOT, but it wouldn't be the end of the world. Then an idea dawned on me, "Would you like to buy it?"

The mechanic gave me a look as if I was crazy, and let me guess; you think the same, don't you?

"There are still parts that work, right? You can use it as a spare time project. Don't tell me you don't have some cars you guys are fixing up when you are closed," I said with a knowing tone of voice. It was a long shot, but if he denied my claim, then this would have been the first mechanic I had ever encountered who didn't do stuff like that as a hobby.

The man rubbed his chin in consideration for what felt like an eternity before he finally began nodding in agreement. "You got me there, kid."

" _I'm not a kid."_ I thought irritated.

"So, what do you wanna sell it for?"

"Oh, uh, how much will you pay?" yeah, I had no idea how much I should take for the wrecked machine.

He eyed the car for a moment, "4.000 euros, give or take."

I took out my phone and checked how much that would have been in my currency, but got more than just a little agitated when I found the answer. "4.000 euros? That's less than half of what we paid for it-"

"You aren't getting 10- or 8.000 if that's what you are hoping for, not when it's in that condition."

He had a point. I may have needed to get rid of the car, but I didn't want to cheat him. "How about 6.000?" I suggested.

The man shook his head no. It was too much. "5.000."

"5.500?"

"Deal."

We shook hands on the deal and arranged it so there would be sent 5.500 euros to my account. It sucked I had to sell the car, but it wasn't the end of the world. Besides I had planned on selling it when I was done in England anyway.

Now, no more complaining but more moving. After checking up on the route I had to walk to Amsterdam, I found out it was a nine-hour travel and that distance didn't get any shorter by itself, so it was best to get going.

"Hey, kid! Wait up" I heard the mechanic call after me.

Ignoring the "kid" comment, I stopped up in front of the door to the outside and waited for the man to catch up to me. He had something white, paper-like in his hand and when he came closer, I realized it was an envelope.

The mechanic handed me the envelope as though it was mine, "You forgot this in the glove compartment."

Confused, I took the envelope and looked it over. I had emptied that compartment the day before leaving home, so this shouldn't have been there.

Turning it to the front, there was written "Birthday gift" in a weird, twisted handwriting.

" _Huh, apparently the freeloader left me a present. Sad I have to wait a year before I can open it."_ I swung my bag off of my shoulders and put the envelope in a notebook. "Thank you for giving it to me," I said and took my leave. "Goodbye."

"Dag," the mechanic said and turned back to continue his work.

I stopped up again. "Come again?"

"'Dag' means 'goodbye' in Dutch," the man explained.

"Ahh, eh, dag," and with that, I began my long walk to Amsterdam.

 **.**

 **Just a quick heads up, this next part is more aimed towards those who are students and who (for one reason or another) get extra time in their tests/finals (or know someone who does). If you are not in this 'situation', then this may bore you, so just skip it.**

 **Have a nice day :)**

 **.**

This Christmas we talked a bit about my cousin who's diagnosed with dyslexia and because of that, he got the offer to get extra time to his finals, but he keeps on turning it down because: "he will stand out compared to his classmates". A part of me wishes I could tell him how idiotic he is by not accepting something that is supposed to put him on equal footing as the rest of his class, but I can't.

I don't have dyslexia, but something else that also gives me the "extra time" offer, and I hated it at first. I felt like it was cheating since I had never needed it before, and suddenly I could use more time on the same test everyone else took, just because a man in a laboratory coat had written something in my medical records. Bullshit. Even got into a discussion with my parents because of it.

The difference between me, and him, however, occurs with the fact, I accepted the fact, I needed the extra minutes. Comparing the results of some tests from before, and after I got sick, the differences were far too obvious for my liking, so I chose to bite my stubbornness in me and agreed that if 30 minutes more was needed to put me on equal terms with the others, then so be it.

Besides, he's wrong about one thing. He doesn't want to be singled out because of extra time, but I have never experienced that. I have never been the only one who got extra time. There have always been others from my class or other classes and not all of them were because of dyslexia.

What do I want to get out of this? Simple. If you, for some reason, are qualified to get extra time for your tests/exams, then accept the offer. The likelihood that you are the only one in your class/year group is minimal, and the only person you cheat by saying no is yourself. The reason you get the offer is not to put you on display, but to help you.

I can only give this advice. It's entirely up to you if you want to use it or not.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N**

 **So much for being able to upload this fast. *Sigh*. Well, at least school is over soon, which means more spare time to write in.**

 **Two things I forgot to mention in the previous chapter:**

 **1\. After doing some research for when it comes to the rules for the different European countries about self-defense weapons (and got my hope, it was only my country that was completely idiotic about this crushed to the ground), I found out it is easier to count the number of countries where pepper sprays and stun guns are, to some level, legal than the other way around.**

 **So, I have changed the self-defense weapon in chapter one to a flashlight taser instead of a pepper spray. It's still illegal, but I plan on working it in one way or another.**

 **Seriously though, WTF!**

 **2\. Who said Prucan wasn't in the cards. Just, you know, far into the future.**

 **.**

It's weird. After using 11 hours walking to Amsterdam, I found that the city was nothing like had expected. Everything seemed so lively and lit up as if the place was one big Christmas tree.

As I entered the inner city, I saw every street and canal around me shone with red and yellow glowing light, while the sky above made a dark blue contrast in the water. The people were all dressed in colorful clothes, with orange being the most common, and walked or drove around on bikes and acted as if they had been, or was on their way, to a party somewhere.

I could smell the scent of tobacco smoke, beer, and cooking food coming from every open cafe, bar or restaurant, resulting in my stomach reminding me I should eat something besides those tiering energy bars.

There were so many people it made the streets thoroughly claustrophobic, and it just went on. Street, after street, after street. Were there always so many people, or was this a special event-thing?

There was talk buzzing in the air and the music from the center of the city was so loud I could tell there was played "Despacito", "Shape of you", "Symphony" and the like, even when I was so far away. It was a miracle I could even hear what I was thinking.

After using what felt like forever, I managed to get away from the giant obstacle course of bikes and masses of people dancing or drinking outside of bars and clubs. Too many strangers bumped into me and I, somehow, ended up on a path that led me away from all the commotion, and to a surprisingly calm park with barely anyone there.

That was insane. Been there about 20 minutes and already felt like I needed a break. It was nice being around other people again and all, but I had my limits.

I used some time to sit and relax on a collection of big rocks at the more secluded part of the park and watched as people came and went through the area in all possible levels of intoxication by questionable substances.

As much bad taste it was of me, I still found it kinda funny how the people who were drunk wobbled forward, arms wrapped around their friends who were either just as wasted or entirely sober in comparison. They all spoke in slurred Dutch, German, or English in all different noise levels, making it thoroughly impossible to understand a single word they were saying. Everyone looked as if they were part of larger groups consisting of their friends or family, and they were all unmistakably at a high spirit.

Yeah I know, that last one was a weird observation, but when there were so many people crowding together it made those who were alone stand out like a black sheep in a white herd. By that I mean, it was this lack of social interaction that made her catch my eye.

There was this 20-something girl with short, slightly curly, brown hair that was held back by a green ribbon. She wore a red tank top and light brown jeans that went down into some knee high military looking boots. She had unquestionably drunk more than enough, judging by the way she kept mumbling and supported herself against the building walls or trees closest to her. The thing was she walked -or more precisely stumbled- alone. There was no one near her who seemed like they accompanied her, so I guessed she was looking for someone because between nearly falling over her own legs and retching, she kept looking around and mumbled a little bit louder.

Now, seeing a girl in such a state was enough to set off a couple of alarms in my head, but what made the situation worse was when I saw two men had noticed the same as me and began following the girl from a great distance. The men moved quickly and quietly closer to her while they stayed in the shadows, keeping their eyes on her all the time and gestured to her as they walked.

 _"Those guys look like they are up to no good,"_ I thought suspiciously.

The girl slowly stumbled down a side alley between a couple of buildings, away from the safety of the more populated park and to a more isolated area. Just as suspected, the guys followed her.

Yeah, there was no way in hell I could let a, basically defenseless girl get attacked by two guys. Had already seen this episode of Criminal Minds and it didn't end well. I grabbed my bag from the ground as I set off running in the direction of the girl, avoiding branches and rocks while I fumbled around in the side pocket where my flashlight taser was. When I located it, I took hold of it in my left hand and ran faster.

As I reached the gab to the alleyway, I got a better look at the men. One of them had brown hair, wore a brown leather jacket, black pants and seemed to be the tallest of them; while the other was a half head shorter, with blond hair and he wore a white t-shirt and light brown jeans.

The leather jacket guy had pushed the drunk girl up against a wall, and hold her wrists above her head in a tight grip while he, with a sick smile on his lips, said something in Dutch to his blond friend who just looked at the hepless girl with his arms crossed and his face unreadable.

The girl was barely awake at that point. She blinked as if she tried to get her green eyes to focus properly, to stay awake, but judging by her nodding head, she was fighting a losing battle with unconsciousness. However, she did manage to lock eyes with me, pleading me to help her out, before anything could happen.

My legs froze to the spot. What the hell was I supposed to do? Show up, beat the bad guy (or rather "bad guys"), and save the damsel in distress like some cheesy comic book hero?

 _"Snap out of it, you damn coward."_

Clenching my hand, I forced my body to move forward. "Hey, asshole!" I shouted angrily at the blond guy who stood closest to me. With a raised fist, my right hand connected with the man's nose as hard as I could.

The blond guy grunted in a mix of pain and surprise while he tripped backward. He tried to cover the sore area with his hand, but unfortunately for him, blood began sipping out between his fingers and down his face.

 _"Bullseye,"_ I thought, feeling a bit proud of my well-placed hit.

"Wat de-" leather jacket said in confusion, looking at his friend and then at me. When he realized what was going on, his face scrunched up into a pissed off expression, after which he let go of the drunk girl. She landed on wobbly legs and slipped down the wall, passed out cold. Leather jacket walked towards me in quick, angry strides and kept clenching and unclenching his fist. "Jij kleine snotaap," he snarled.

My body wanted to freeze up again, but I couldn't allow myself to do that.

Before he got too close to me, I swung the flashlight at him. Leather jacket evaded my attack and landed a punch to my left eye. Fuck that hurt.

I stumbled back, but quickly regained my footing, unlike the blond guy. He kept to the ground and tried to crawl over to the opposite wall, while also holding a hand to his leaking snout.

Without wasting any time, I tried to throw a punch at the leather jacket man, but he blocked it by holding his arms in front of his head like a shield. It left the rest of him open for an attack with the flashlight taser, and I did not let the opportunity pass. I took the chance and hit him in the side with the activated taser.

It made a weird electric clicking noise and sent leather jacket jerkingly to the ground in a silent scream and gurgle sounds. Luckily the guy didn't seem like he planned on getting up anytime soon.

Surprised, I gazed a bit at the flashlight in my hand and then at the jackass on the ground. " _Damn, how powerful is this thing?"_ I thought baffled.

I glared over at the blond guy I hit first, and he had this shocked wide-eyed expression while he looked between his friend and me.

Feeling pissed off, I pressed the button that activated the taser to get the guys attention.

The man's gaze snapped back at me with a more scared look now. He tried to press himself closer to the wall as if it would create more distance between us.

I took a couple of steps closer to the blond, taser ready to give him a jolt if he tried to do anything. I said in what I hoped was an intimidating tone of voice, "You take your friend there," I gestured towards the guy with the leather jacket who was slowly getting back to his senses, "and leave. If you try anything I don't like, then let's see how well you take a blow from this," I pressed the stun button again, "or should we rather contact the police right now?"

"No, no." The blond shook his head and quickly got to his feet. He ran to his friend and pulled leather jacket with him, resulting in them stumbling onto a path I guessed leaded back to the inner city.

"Holy shit, it actually worked," I said to myself. To be honest, I just made the threat up without having any idea if I could pull it off. On the other hand, I had never thought I would pick up a fight either. And there I was, defending a complete stranger.

I turned back to the girl who was sunk together on the ground next to a trash bin, fast asleep due to the alcohol in her system. I stepped back to her and arranged her body so I could carry her on my back and walked away from the scene.

I took her back to the park and found an unoccupied bench, away from curious eyes, where the girl could lay down and sleep the drunkenness out while I sat on the ground and tried to figure out what to do.

Contacting authorities was the most logical option, but the girl must have had someone looking for her in the city. Friends, family, a date, someone must have been with her, otherwise, why was she searching just minutes ago. Well, she could have been confused about where she was, but still.

"It will be logical to make sure that someone she knows can take care of her. She could become scared out of her mind if the first person she sees when she wakes up is a complete stranger, even if the stranger is a police officer," I thought to myself out loud. "But how can I contact her friends or family and explain where we are? I don't even know where I am, besides it's somewhere in Amsterdam."

I gradually began getting this burning, pulsating feeling around my left eye and in two of my fingers on my right hand. My eye was probably turning black, which wouldn't surprise me, but my fingers? When I raised my hand to inspect it, I could see my ring- and middle fingers were turning these bruised colors and even swelled a bit. I tried to bend them, but it hurt too much.

" _Fuck. Are they sprained? It feels like they are. Well, that's just perfect."_

By coincidence, my train of thought was interrupted by the sound of a cell phone ringing. I jumped a bit in surprise as the sound of some techno song began right next to my head. The sound came from the girl's front pocket, and when the caller hung up, it began ringing again with another song.

 _"Sounds like someone really wants to get in touch with her,"_ I thought.

Completely forgetting my hurting hand, I mumbled an apology to the girl and carefully took the ringing phone out of her pocket. The phone screen said, "Grote broer" was calling while flashing a selfie of the girl winking at the camera while wearing a big cat-like smile and with her free arm around the blue and white scarf-clad neck of a tall man. The man wore a stoic expression, had a scar on the right side of his forehead, and he had short, spiky blond hair and green eyes. The same green eyes as the girl.

"" _Grote broer"? It kinda looks like the German term, "grosser Bruder". Does it mean 'big brother'? They do kinda look like, so maybe they are related."_ Reluctantly, I picked up the phone and pressed the device against my ear. "Uh… h-hello?"

Big mistake by the way because the man on the other end of the line hadn't noticed I wasn't the one he expected to answer the call. In fact, the first thing he did was yell at "Laura" in a remarkably angry tone of voice, resulting in me nearly dropping the phone... and feel kinda bad for the girl. I mean, imagine you'd been close to being assaulted, and the first thing you hear from your brother turns out to be a scolding.

"LAURA, WAAR DE HEL BENT U?!"

.

 **Translations:**

 **Dutch = English**

 **Wat de- = what the-**

 **Jij kleine snotaap = you little brat**

 **LAURA, WAAR DE HEL BENT U = Laura, where the hell are you**

 **.**

 **And would you look at that, shit actually happens XD**

 **So, guess who looks forward to every vacation, so she can write without having five school assignments hanging over her head. Oh well.**

 **Thanks for reading. Please, leave a review and have a nice day :)**


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